Category Archives: In The Media

Main Stream Media articles worth mentioning

An Open Letter to Non-Occupiers

  March 15, 2012 - 7:30 am |
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Oct 14 @ GCP - Democracy

In response to: An Open Letter to Non-Occupiers – News Junkie Post, March 9, 2012 by Dennis Trainor, Jr
Opinion by Stephen Boyle

While most debates about the next steps the Occupy movement should take naturally occur among those already engaged in the movement, one population that needs to be further engaged, … is the population of those who are watching from the sidelines.

In other words, the individual members of the 99% who are potentially sympathetic but as yet unmoved to participate in the movement need another open invitation to the dance.

One such individual watching from the sidelines hit me up on facebook recently asking, essentially, what Occupy stands for.

Questions like this and other versions of the “what are your demands” question can sometimes make one go a little postal. What do we stand for?  Really? Are you kidding? However, this recent query was not a joke or a provocation. It came in good faith, unsolicited from one not yet aligned with occupy but seeming at least willing to consider participating in the future. The honest to goodness naiveté embedded in the question is evidence supporting the idea that we have more work to do in providing a more compelling narrative than the dominant corporately controlled media provides.
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Four Draft District Maps For Detroit

  January 22, 2012 - 9:33 pm |
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These maps segment the City of Detroit into seven districts. Monday and Tuesday the maps will be revealed to the City Council and the public.

Want to See and Sound Off? 

Public comment period during City Council meetings Monday & Tuesday, or a public hearing Tuesday 7pm at Liberty Temple Baptist Church, 17188 Greenfield, Detroit (at McNichols). An additional public hearing is being scheduled for next week and more may follow.

Preliminary Look

None of the maps has a downtown district, which if created enable a power-play of corporate strength versus the people. Each redistricting map does have a southwest district, which is a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood and could lead to the first Hispanic Mayor in time. As a copy of these maps becomes available this post will be updated to provide the information.

The draft maps were developed by the city Planning Commission, lead by Council President Charles Pugh.

Source:  Detroiters will be able to weigh in on 4 maps to redraw city council districts
(via Rochelle Riley | Detroit Free Press | freep.com)

MLK Day march to governor’s gates: Give back our right to vote!

  January 17, 2012 - 1:58 pm | , ,
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It’s not yet clear whether Gov. Rick Snyder and the majority Republican legislature were listening on, ironically, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

But regional and national media paid attention as hundreds of people marched to Snyder’s home near Ann Arbor, massing at the gates of the guarded subdivision that Snyder prefers to the official Governor’s Mansion in Lansing, the state capitol.

According to official estimates, more than 1,000 people marched to the subdivision’s gatehouse, chanting and shouting for the return of their absolute right to elect the officials who govern their cities and school districts.

About half of all black people living in Michigan will have no local voting rights if the state takes control of two cities it’s focused on now: Detroit and Inkster.

The number of activist groups who marched together showed that the voting right issue is bigger than any one group. They included the Michigan Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the NAACP, Occupy Detroit,  The National Action Network of Michigan, AFSCME Council 25, Michigan Forward, The Sugar Law Center, and Occupy 4 All.

Michigan’s expanded Emergency Financial Manager law has become nationally notorious for giving the state the power to void local elections and take control. The law, greatly expanded last spring as Public Act 4, allows the governor to appoint a single person — the so-called emergency financial manager — to take over a city.

The emergency manager can toss out elected city or town governments, void labor contracts negotiated by the city, … [read more] Continue reading →

Eleven BAMN Protesters Under Felony Arrest at Detroit’s Lincoln Library

  December 23, 2011 - 2:47 am | ,
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5th grader letter claiming Lincoln Library was the best

Live protest coverage of closure of Lincoln branch of Detroit Public Library on Dec 22, 2011. BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) organized the sit-in protest. Neighborhood organizations and Occupy Detroit provided support outside the library. Eleven people were charged with felony arrest. Two were placed in a squad car at first, the remainder were lead out into a wagon.

The live video highlight shown here is from BAMN’s channel. The group seated in the library tell the police they have been reading from Martin Luther King Jr’s “Why We Can’t Wait“. Police tell them that if they don’t leave they will be charged with a felony arrest.

Those arrested were taken to the Northeast Precinct to be processed for felony charges of resisting and obstruction of justice. As a felony arrest they can be kept until next week – spending Christmas weekend in jail.

Four branches of the Detrhoit Public Library system were closed December 22, 2011: Lincoln, Montieth, Mark Twain, and Richard.

Emma Howland-Bolton (an active member of Occupy Detroit) is a 5th grade teacher at Mason Elementary, located a little over 1.5 miles from Lincoln Library. Her students go to the library to complete class projects. Some of them created signs in support of the library and these were placed in the windows.

The photo that follows is a letter from Benny saying he needs access to the library computer system to complete his science project and study. A new library will … [read more] Continue reading →